OCTOBER 18, 2026: BRIAN MURRAY'S program on "NUCLEAR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE: RETHINKING RISK IN A WARMING WORLD"
- Rothermel Foundation
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Date/Time: October 18, 2026 @ 2pm
Location: First Presbyterian Church; 400 New Street, New Bern, NC 28560
Presenter: Brian Murray, Director of Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University
Program: Nuclear Energy and Climate Change: Rethinking Risk in a Warming World
Program Abstract:
Debates about nuclear energy have long focused on the risks of accidents, waste, and cost. Yet as climate change accelerates, societies are increasingly confronting another profound risk: the consequences of continued greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. In this talk, Brian Murray explores how our understanding of nuclear energy has evolved as we weigh these competing risks. Rather than advocating a single solution, he examines nuclear power through the lens of energy policy—considering safety, environmental stewardship, technological innovation, and societal values. The discussion invites us to think critically about how nuclear energy might fit into a responsible strategy for meeting growing energy needs while caring for the planet.
Speaker Bio:
Brian Murray, Ph.D., is the director of the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University, which accelerates solutions to critical energy and environmental challenges.
Murray is also a research professor at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and the Sanford School of Public Policy.
He has led the Nicholas Institute since 2021, when the organization was created by the merger of the Duke University Energy Initiative and Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. In 2015, Murray was a Fulbright Scholar in Environment and Economy at Canada's University of Ottawa.
Murray is widely recognized for his research on the economics of energy policy, particularly as it relates to efforts to mitigate climate change risk. He has written about the design and assessment of economic incentive mechanisms for decarbonizing the economy as well as policies affecting the markets for renewable energy and sustainable land use.
Murray has served as an author on a number of invited blue ribbon reports, including a National Academy of Sciences panel to examine the effects of the U.S. federal tax code on energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report on greenhouse gas mitigation from land use change.
Prior to working at Duke, Murray served as director of the Center for Regulatory Economics and Policy Research at RTI International.
Murray earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance at the University of Delaware and a master’s degree and doctoral degree in resource economics and policy at Duke University.
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